


Young Gods

by lannisterslioness



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Background Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Drama, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force-Sensitive Finn, Force-Sensitive Poe Dameron, Gray Jedi, Heavy Angst, Jedi Leia Organa, Jedi Rey, Rey Solo, Sibling Rivalry, Skywalker Family Feels
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-21
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-10-22 00:53:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10686429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannisterslioness/pseuds/lannisterslioness
Summary: 'Rey and Ben used to talk about which limb they’d rather lose; Ben always picking his left hand while Rey picked her left leg. This, however, was far worse, this was losing a part of herself that she couldn’t live without, a part of her soul that couldn’t be replaced. She could still see the lightsaber so close to her neck, feeling the heat sizzle against the skin of her neck and forming a scar, feeling him plead to her through the Force, begging her to go with him, to not leave him as their parents had left –'***(I couldn't think up a description on the spot, there's more info in the author's note!)





	1. My Ghost

**Author's Note:**

> a/n: i've risen from the grave! as i expected, i got inspiration back after the trailer dropped thank god! down to business though, this is sort of officially a re-write of my old damerey fic 'Twin Suns'. i lost inspiration for it entirely, and to be honest, i wasn't like the direction i was taking it, i wanted to explore so much more but i wrote myself into a corner. between taking the basic idea from that, adding in the new ideas i've had brimming in my head wanting to write some skywalker family drama and traveling down some dark paths story wise, along with the trailer inspiration - here we are! this fic is going to go back and forth between rey and ben a lot and really explore the bond they had before - well - before ben ruined everything, but for a reason; fear not though, there will be damerey though it might not be as prominent as it's been in the past since i really want to explore this bond rey and her brother share and what drove them to where they are now! anyway, i'll stop talking, the tags (which i will update as the chapters go on so i don't spoil too much) and the chapter will do the rest of the talk, i hope you guys enjoy!! <3

The Skywalkers were known for losing limbs, it’d almost become a family joke of sorts over the years. Rey and Ben used to talk about which limb they’d rather lose; Ben always picking his left hand while Rey picked her left leg. This, however, was far worse, this was losing a part of herself that she couldn’t live without, a part of her soul that couldn’t be replaced. She could still see the lightsaber so close to her neck, feeling the heat sizzle against the skin of her neck and forming a scar, feeling him plead to her through the Force, begging her to go with him, to not leave him as their parents had left –

 

        “Rey?” A scratchy yet familiar voice pulled Rey from her meditation, chasing the negative thoughts and memories away.

 

She jumped slightly, she knew Uncle Luke would notice it but she couldn’t help it. That one recurring memory scarred her in more ways than one, the scar on her neck stinging slightly as if she had just gotten it all over again.

 

“Rey, are you ready to go?” Luke questioned.

 

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Rey replied, nodding and collecting her thoughts, wiping away the stray tears she shed and focusing on boarding the Resistance U-Wing parked and waiting for them.

 

“Do you want to talk – “

 

“No.” Rey cut him off. “No, I don’t want to talk about it.”

 

“Let’s get you home then.” Luke sighed.

 

“Yeah…home.” Rey mumbled.

* * *

 

Ben could feel her scratching at the back of his mind, clawing her way to where she shouldn’t have tried to go. Before he could push her away she was gone, and despite everything, he still always missed her presence after she left. He couldn’t allow such distractions though he did indulge in them when he was weak; once she’d been the only thing that held him together, they were inseparable – now they were strangers, and Ben still didn’t know if it was for the better or the worse after all these years.

 

“Ren,” Hux hissed as soon as he walked onto the bridge, it was times like these where he wished he could choke the life out of the man, “Supreme Leader Snoke wishes to see you.”

 

He didn’t bother with a response, instead Ben simply walked past him, feeling the General’s anger as he did so. The thought crossed his mind of choking the life out of him, of silencing that barking tone the General had once and for all, but something always stayed his hand and kept him from doing so.

 

The hall for the Supreme Leader wasn’t far from the bridge thankfully, though it felt like it stretched on for miles whenever she had gotten in his head. Ben clenched his fists and took some deep breaths under his helmet. This meeting was more than likely about the Resistance spies, more specifically, about the girl he left alive because she bore a resemblance to her, his sister whose name he couldn’t even speak without feeling rage.

 

_‘Ben, please don’t, please!’_ He heard her voice over and over again, sparks hissing from nearby counsels.

 

She haunted him as much as he haunted her.

* * *

 

 

Rey had been running for so many years now that it felt odd to sit still, it had just been her and Luke for the longest time, trying to run and hide without risking calling for help and getting more people killed along the way. They’d been hunted like animals, chased down across systems and given few chances to catch their breath. A few days ago, Luke had finally told her that he reached out for help against his better judgement, he knew that she was unravelling and needed a place to gather her thoughts. Rey only wished that the safe place he promised her hadn’t been with the Resistance of all places.

 

The ship jostled and rumbled slightly as it made its landing down onto the tarmac, Rey already feeling the lively static in the air from all the hustling Resistance officers outside the door. She took some deep breaths, preparing herself for the gawking and stares she knew she’d receive as soon as she set foot outside this ship.

 

_It’s her, that’s the General’s daughter!_

 

_She’s Luke Skywalker's padawan, one of the last, she’ll know what to do with the First Order._

 

_She has to be different from her brother, she can’t be so evil, she won’t take after Anakin._

 

Rey hung her head and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to drown out the voices already. It’d been so long since she’d been near so many people that she’d almost forgotten how to handle drowning out crowds.

 

“Breathe Rey, it’s alright.” Luke assured her, his hand resting on her shoulder.

 

He offered up the silent solace of his thoughts to help her gain her focus again and once she felt sure she could control it, she gave a brief nod to Luke to let him know. The pilots of the ship wasted no time after that to open up the ship's door, the sound of boots running across the tarmac being the only thing Rey heard.

 

She slowly got to her feet, feeling a bit dizzy from having to expend so much energy already just to control her thoughts. Despite the busy nature of the base, she was caught off guard by noticing the crowd that had gathered around the ship, officers and pilots alike, along with a few senators who openly supported the Resistance after the recent attack from the First Order. There at the heart of the crowd standing front and center was the one no one other than her mother, dressed as if she were ready to march out to war herself with her lightsaber strapped to her hip where her trusted blaster should have been – Rey knew that meant the threat was serious and imminent.

 

Her mother’s emotions were mixed with joy and sadness, tinged with regret; the exact same emotions Rey remembered her feeling the day she left her at the temple with Ben. It’d been so long since she’d seen her mother that she almost didn’t recognize her, if it hadn’t been for those eyes – Ben’s eyes – she would have mistaken her for someone else. 

 

        Leia took a few steps forward, testing the waters between them to see how she would react. Rey knew there was no escaping this moment even though she desperately wanted to turn and run, she had to face her here and now. With Luke at her side and guiding her forward, Rey kept her eyes locked on her mother while all the officers surrounding them kept their eyes on her and Luke, the last of the Jedi in the galaxy. In a matter of moments they were face to face with one another, no way of escape, and Rey wasn't sure whether she was ready for this moment yet. 

 

        “Breha, look at you.” Leia spoke, a fond smile on her face and eyes watering, she was itching to reach out and hold her though she restrained herself. “You've grown so much.” 

 

_         That's what happens when you leave your child alone for six years,  _ Rey so desperately wanted to say. Instead she bit her tongue and nodded, wanting to keep the moment peaceful in front of strangers. 

 

        Leia reached out and wrapped her arms around her tentatively, Rey stiffened up at the contact before barely putting her arms around her mother, just enough to give a slight hug yet stay away from an embrace. She pulled away slowly, not wanting to let go of Rey just yet, before she turned her attention to Luke who gave her the loving embrace she hoped to get from her. 

 

        “Let’s get you two inside, you must be exhausted.” Leia said, breaking away from her hug with Luke and turning her full attention to Rey again. 

 

        With that, the officers around them dispersed and went about their business again, all except for three at least. One was a short blonde about her mother’s height with buns in her hair and a data pad clutched to her chest, waves nervousness radiating from her while she stood in their presence. The second was a taller dark man in uniform, standing tall and proud yet had a warm smile on his face as he gave a brief nod to both her and Luke, the pins on his uniform told Rey he was a Lieutenant. The last was a man about the same height as the Lieutenant beside him, bronze skinned and brown eyed with dark curled hair, something about him made Rey think he’d be a great poster boy for the Resistance - something pretty to look at and catch people’s eye. Despite his looks, he seemed to be the highest ranking one of the three, his uniform telling Rey that he was a Commander. 

 

         The three followed them in, the blonde girl staying right at Leia’s side and typing away at something while the two men stayed behind both Rey and Luke. It made Rey feel like she was being escorted, as if she needed protection from something she didn’t know was even a threat yet. Then again, with the First Order’s last attack hitting so close to the Resistance’s base planet, perhaps it was for the best that they were kept under guard. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


        The blonde girl, Lieutenant Kaydel Ko Connix, as Rey came to learn her name, showed Rey to her room while Leia herself escorted Luke, the two men lingering in the debriefing room and talking among themselves.  

 

        “If you need anything while you’re here, I’d be happy to help.” Connix said, lingering by the doorway while Rey tried to get used to her surroundings. 

 

        It’d been years since she had a bed, longer since she had a room to herself; she didn’t realize how much she missed the privacy until she was finally given it again. The room was small and only one bunk, but it was more than Rey had since the Order destroyed the temple, and part of Rey with it. 

 

        “Thank you.” Rey acknowledged her. 

 

        The Lieutenant was about to leave, though something held her back and made her hesitate, the flare of her anxiety being more than enough for Rey to sense and cause her to stare at the girl. 

 

        “Uh, the General requested to have dinner with you tonight.” Connix stated, her voice meek and gaze no longer fixated on Rey, but on the objects behind her to avoid eye contact. “Or, rather, she  _ asked _ if you would join her, it wasn’t an order, more like a request - “ 

 

        “I’ll join her.” Rey cut the girl off, she didn’t need to ask or pry into Connix’s mind to know that she knew of the tension between Rey and her parents, it was written all over her face and the way she acted. 

 

        “I’ll let her know.” She replied with relief written all over her face, this time leaving as quickly as she could and the doors shutting behind her. 

  
        For the first time in years, Rey finally had some peace, but now the silence seemed more deafening than the voices of others. She used to love having her space, but years of travel and losing Ben...the silence only reminded her of how alone she truly was. 


	2. Keep You Safe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: this chapter is a bit longer! more character in it such as getting to see finn, and there's a little more backstory on ben turning to the dark side (hint: i made it slightly similar to why anakin turned, though you know, not the exact same). either way i hope you guys enjoy it, i can't believe we still have to wait eight more months until the last jedi, i need it now!

There was a reason behind everything Ben had done; why he left the temple, why he killed all the people he killed, why he joined the First Order. The reason was Rey. 

 

He left the temple because he knew there was something coming for his sister that he couldn’t protect her from under Luke’s teachings, he killed the new Jedi to keep Rey safe from them trying to use her against him, he joined the First Order to learn how to truly protect her with powers Luke would never have taught him. He did everything for her, unlike their parents who cast them aside, and in the end she cast him aside as well, repulsed by what he became to keep her safe and fleeing with Luke. In a cruel twist of fate,  _ he _ had become the darkness that threatened to hunt her down, along with the rest of the First Order; but despite everything, Ben would kill anyone who tried to harm her. 

 

Supreme Leader Snoke saw this in Ben’s heart, he’d ordered him to kill Rey on more than one occasion, and every time he got close and saw her - he couldn’t do it. Despite hurting her, in more ways than one, she was still the only thing that mattered to him in this entire galaxy, she was all he had. 

 

The sharp stinging pain caused by the med droid tending to his new wounds was enough to pull him from his thoughts and back into the reality around him. The harsh cuts and wounds on his back serving as a reminder from Snoke and his other lackeys that disobedience was not tolerated within the Order. All those punishments used to work when he was young, now he was used to the pain and they held little effect over his actions. Snoke knew there were other ways to hurt him, using pain like this was just a warning, if he ever did something severe, he knew what his master would do to keep him in line. Letting a rebel spy escape with her life because she looked like his sister was nothing compared to what he could have done. 

 

“That’s enough.” Ben barked the order at the droid, it stopping instantly and leaving his chambers without another beep in protest. 

 

With the droid gone, Ben walked over to a nearby mirror in his room, seeing not much of anything other than a walking collection of scars. A scar on his bottom lip from Rey daring him to climb the tallest tree they could find when they were little, scars on his arms and hands from training with Luke when he was a padawan, the rest of the scars on his chest and back were all from his time here - training, disobeying, his rage getting the better of him and hurting himself in the process of hurting something else. 

 

“Sir,” the voice of Captain Phasma came through the communicator he left on his bedside table, “we have a lead on the Jedi.” 

 

“Where?” Ben grabbed the communicator instantly, every muscle in his body tensing, waiting to hear the news. 

 

“We have a confirmed sighting of them last being seen on Naboo, boarding a transport to the outer rim.” Phasma replied. “It was a Resistance U-Wing, it won’t be coming back.” 

 

“I want records of every ship  that had clearance to leave Naboo that day and their destinations, there is record of where that U-Wing went somewhere, make them talk.” Ben stated, trying to keep his anger from getting the better of him. 

 

“Yes sir.” Phasma replied before the line went dead, his most loyal soldier carrying out his commands. 

 

Snoke wanted Rey found to be killed, Ben wanted her found to give her another chance to join him, to show Snoke that she could help and that they could train together, that he could keep her safe. All he had to do was find Rey first, and with any luck, someone would talk to save their own skin on where that U-Wing was headed. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


The last time Rey had seen her mother was when she was eight years old, she hadn’t seen her father since she was five, so naturally she fooled herself into thinking that her mother would keep her promise where her father had failed. Ben had told her not to get her hopes up, he tried to protect her from the same heartbreak he went through - but even that wasn’t enough. 

 

As the darkness in the galaxy grew stronger, the weeks turned to months which eventually turned into years that kept Leia away. Between being a senator and being a representative for the last of the Jedi remaining while Luke was busy raising Rey and training younglings, it was almost impossible for her to actually visit her children; Han stopped trying altogether. Naturally, after all those years apart, there was a cloud of tension and guilt hanging between the two of them while they sat together for dinner in Leia’s quarters, neither of them knowing what to say. 

 

“So,” Leia started, “how was Naboo?” 

 

“Fine,” Rey said, “from what I could see of it. I got to see that monument they built to grandma, it’s nice.” 

 

Padmé Amidala, perhaps one of the more famous names to come from Naboo - only to be rivaled by the dark presence that was left behind by Darth Sidious, better known as Emperor Palpatine. It was easy to see why they’d chosen to honor their fallen former queen and senator so openly while they desperately tried to erase the stain the Emperor had left behind on their small planet. Between the Organa’s and the legacy Padmé left behind, Rey understood why Leia chose to stay in politics rather than become a Jedi Master like Uncle Luke, though she still was a Knight just like Rey. Sometimes Rey thought that if she’d chosen politics as well that her parents wouldn’t have left her like they left Ben, but she couldn’t leave Ben behind, and the call of the Force was far too great for her to ignore by sitting at a desk and making speeches day in and day out. 

 

“Glad you got to see it.” Leia offered up a smile as she looked towards Rey, Rey couldn’t find it in her to fake a smile in return. 

 

“Ben took me there once when I was younger, to Naboo.” Rey stated, keeping her eyes on her food and feeling the mood shift back to something strained. 

 

Leia remained silent, Rey knew it was a low blow, but it was something she couldn’t help. But Rey had seen her mother's speeches, seen how she avoided calling  _ Kylo Ren _ her son and danced around the subject of what happened to Ben Organa-Solo. Every time Rey noticed that, she felt like her mother was trying to erase her brother, and she couldn’t help but feel that if she’d joined Ben, she would have tried to erase her too. 

 

“Your father heard you and Luke we’re coming here, he’s going to come by with Chewie.” Leia tried to change the subject. 

 

“Well, tell Chewie I’m sorry I’ll miss him.” Rey said. 

 

“Breha, you - “ 

 

“ _ Rey _ ,” She corrected her mother, Rey was the nickname Ben had given her, she wasn’t going to erase him and what he had been unlike everyone else in the galaxy, “and I can choose not to see Han if I want. He abandoned Ben and I long before you did, I’d rather just see Chewie, at least he called.” 

 

It was silent again, Rey felt she’d crossed a line somewhere, not that she cared if she did or not, but she didn’t expect the feeling of such overwhelming guilt to wash over her either. “You’re right.” Leia sighed. “If you want to just see Chewie, I’ll just tell him where you’ll be, I won’t tell your father.” 

 

“...Thank you.” Rey hesitated saying. 

 

The discomfort in the room kept rising and Rey knew she needed to just be anywhere else right now other than here, she knew some meditation would help clear her mind. 

 

“Thank you for dinner, I have to go meet Uncle Luke for meditation.” Rey excused herself from the table, rising to her feet and grabbing her lightsaber off of the nearby table. 

 

“I’ll be here if you want to talk.” Leia called after her just before Rey managed to get out the door and have them snap shut behind her. 

  
  


* * *

  
  


Anywhere was better than being with her mother for another moment. She knew Luke was somewhere meditating, though she wasn’t sure she wanted to interfere with whatever shred of peace he was able to find in all of the chaos of an active rebel base. Rey needed to calm her mind as well, and so far the only place of solace she could think of would be her room - the trouble being she didn’t remember where her room was. 

 

“Are you alright?” A man asked her, it didn’t take long for Rey to realize that it was one of the Lieutenants from earlier, though she never caught his name. 

 

“Yeah, just lost.” Rey admitted, there was something calming about him that took the edge off of Rey’s nerves. 

 

“Can’t say I blame you there, when I first got here I couldn’t remember where anything was.” He grinned, trying to lighten the dark mood that was still hanging over her from her dinner with her mother. “Connix said she’s got you in the west bunks, I’ll take you there.” 

 

“Oh, thanks.” Rey said, caught off guard by his willingness to help, the galaxy could have used more people like him. 

 

“No problem, it’s Breha, right?” He asked. 

 

“Rey actually. Breha’s a big name to live up to, I just go by Rey.” She clarified. 

 

“Rey, got it, nice to meet you,” He nodded, “I’m Finn.” 

 

“Nice to meet you Finn.” Rey said. 

 

The rest of the walk was filled with small chatter between the two of them, Finn asking question after question about what it’s like to use a lightsaber and learning the ways of the Force, claiming that he never was told any stories about the Jedi at all until he joined the Resistance. Rey asked him for directions to nearly everywhere she could think of that she might need to go to in the next few days until she learned where everything was. 

 

“This is it.” Rey said, remembering the dings and dents that were on the front of her door and stopping short. 

 

“Alright, well, if you ever need anything Rey, you can come find Poe or I anytime.” Finn said. 

 

“Poe?” Rey questioned, more than sure that she’d never heard that name before now. 

 

“Oh, right, Commander Dameron I mean, he was with us earlier when you and your uncle showed up. He’ll help you with whatever you need to.” Finn assure her. 

 

“Good to know, thanks Finn.” Rey nodded. 

 

“Anytime.” Finn offered her a parting grin before taking his leave. 

 

Rey managed to remember the codes to her door at least, getting it open and letting out a sigh of relief once it was shut. Or at least she felt that brief relief for only a moment, until a familiar voice clawed it’s way into her mind, forcing a one way connection. 

 

_ ‘The Resistance? After all these years you ran back to her, or maybe it’s because I left you no other choice, no other place to hide. For that, I’m sorry. I wanted to protect you from them, remember? It doesn’t matter, I tracked you to Naboo, you were there, weren’t you? Someone will talk. I don’t know why you keep running from me Rey, it’d be so much easier to convince Snoke to let you join me if you stopped running. You know I’d never hurt you, don’t you? Stop fighting me, Rey, please - ‘  _

 

Rey cut him off there, not wanting to hear anymore. Her heart still ached when she cut him off, no matter how many times she’d done it before in the past years, he was her brother and their bond was stronger than most could understand, even stronger than the bond Luke and her mother shared. He could call out to her across systems and stars and still sound as if he were in the room with her; their power was more than likely the only reason Snoke wanted the both of them alive. 

 

_ ‘I don’t want to be found, Ben.’ _

 

It was a risk to call out to him, to give him any form of a response or acknowledgement, it was reckless - something commonly known to be in the Skywalker bloodline. 

 

_ ‘It sounds like you do.’ _

  
His reply came quickly, latching onto the tail end of the connection she briefly opened in order to get his reply to her. Rey pushed all traces of their connection out of her mind and balled her hands into fists, trying to tame the low rumble now echoing through her room. She hated that he was right, that somewhere deep down in the back of her mind, she _did_ want her brother to find her. 


	3. Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: finally got a new chapter done! i had a little bit of writers block going on between school, work, and my brain just saying "nope, not today", but i just sat down as soon as i got home from seeing guardians of the galaxy vol 2 and set my mind to finishing this chapter! hope you guys like it! <3

_“Ben, this isn’t you, this isn’t who you are.” Rey pleaded._

 

_She was talking to her brother, not some monster that hid behind a mask that had been cast aside on the floor, she saw Ben for the first time in years - just Ben. He had a vibrant red scar over his right eye now, and for the first time since he left there was emotion other than anger behind his dark brown eyes. Rey didn’t know where they were, trapped in some room consumed with red light, the floor beneath them shaking and threatening to give way; all she noticed that stood out other than Ben were the people around her. The lieutenant Finn was directly behind Ben a few feet away, holding his shoulder that suffered a wound. On one side there was Luke...with her father...he was older but she could spot their father from a galaxy away, he was on the floor, Luke’s hands pressed on his stomach to put pressure on a wound. On the other side of them was the commander, Poe, his face littered with bruises and scars, hand holding his side and a blaster in his shaking grip._

 

_“It’s who I’ve become.” Ben replied, his voice filled with pain and eyes welled with tears threatening to fall._

 

_Before Rey could say another word, the shot of a blaster ran through the room while Ben’s face went blank as he crumpled to his feet._

 

_“NO,” Rey shouted, “no, no, no, Ben!”_

 

_She grabbed ahold of Ben and pulled him into her grasp before he hit the ground, kneeling and keeping him close while tears fell. She just got him back, how could someone take him away? Rey turned to see that the commander had lowered his blaster now, his eyes locked on her and searching for something, she knew it must have meant something but -_

 

Rey woke with a start, sitting upright in her bed and covered in a layer of sweat with most of her blankets kicked off. She’d always gotten her most vivid visions when she was asleep, she often mistaken them for nightmares, but this one was so real, she knew it was a vision. Ben had no influence on it either, she didn’t feel the pain he left behind after prying into her thoughts, this was an honest vision of something that was to come - something that could be changed if she knew how to change it. Rey couldn’t explain it fully, but she felt she could change something with the commander, the way he looked at her in that vision told her that when that event happened, she had a connection to him somehow. He shot Ben, but why? Was Ben the source of his injuries? Did he think Ben was going to kill her?

 

It bothered her, visions like this usually held great meaning, no one was there by accident or chance, they were meant to be there in that moment. So what did a commander Rey knew nothing about other than his name have to do with the possible death of her brother?

  


* * *

 

  


Naboo was silent, as Ben had expected it would be. Naboo was a planet filled with people trying to live up to his grandmother's ideals, and a planet trying to forget the dark Emperor that came from it. Stormtroopers, even those under Phasma’s command, could only get so far with fear and intimidation tactics. Ben had already been halfway to Naboo by the time Phasma called to let him know that no one was willingly or forcibly cooperating, at least not with their tactics. It took Ben ten minutes to accomplish the task, the ship was headed for Tatooine, more than likely a pit stop point for Luke and Rey to switch ships in case they’d been followed. Ben had to admit that the old man was still pretty smart, but not smart enough to anticipate what he’d do to get the answers - to get Rey back.

 

“Sir, should we send another party to question witnesses to Tatooine?” Phasma asked, walking in step with Ben as he head back to this shuttle.

 

“No need, I’ll see to this myself. Return back to base, summon the my Knights for me, I’ll have a mission for them when I return.” Ben ordered, his own distorted voice coming through the mask was something he had grown used to over the years, it made it easier to believe that he was truly a different person now, that he was Kylo Ren and not Ben Organa-Solo.

 

“Yes, sir.” Phasma replied.

  


* * *

 

  


There was something dark on the horizon, Rey could feel it. Not just from the dark vision that plagued her last night, but through the Force itself, something hanging over her that she knew Luke and her mother would be able to feel too. She was on her way to find Luke and ask about this darkness, if it was Ben growing stronger, or Snoke, or something else entirely. Rey didn’t get the chance as fate seemed to have something else in mind for her - a pilot to be exact, crashing right into her with a curious little droid at his feet.

 

“Kriff, I’m sorry.” He mumbled right away, his thoughts seemed to be somewhere else from the look in his eyes, but he mustered up a smile either way, the kind of smile that was contagious if you were around him long enough.

 

“It’s alright,” Rey assured him, “Commander Dameron, right?”

 

“Yeah.” He nodded, that grin still present while something in the Force shifted around him, his own subconscious attempt to cover up whatever had been bothering him beforehand. “You’re the General’s daughter, Breha, right?”

 

“Rey actually.” She corrected him, Breha Organa-Solo was too big of a name to live up to in her eyes.

 

The little round droid beeped at his side, growing up with Artoo as one of her constant companions proved to be more than helpful over the years with understanding other fellow droids. This one, however, who called himself Beebee-Ate, was far more innocent and cheerful than Artoo had ever been in her lifetime.

 

_“I am Beebee-Ate! It is nice to meet you Rey!”_ The droid had chirped.

 

“It’s nice to meet you too Beebee-Ate.” Rey smiled down at it.

 

“You understand him?” Dameron asked now, his smile seeming to be a bit more genuine, though the smile could have fooled just about anyone without Force sensitivity beforehand. “Not many people understand binary like that.”

 

“I grew up around droids, once you get the basics it’s easy to understand,” Rey shrugged, “then again, Beebee-Ate has a much cleaner mouth than the Artoo I grew up with.”

 

“He’s been here with you guys one day and that little droid has mouthed off a few words even I had to stop and think about.” Poe laughed, something just as genuine as his smile now and whatever had been troubling before seemed to completely vanish from his gaze.

 

“Be glad you didn’t have to grow up with him,” Rey laughed in return, “I remember when my father called me once after - “

 

She stopped herself short, _her father_ , she hadn’t talked about him in ages, she hadn’t let herself really, it was easier that way really; if she didn’t talk about him, it was easier not to think about him, Ben always told her the moment she arrived on Ahch-to that he wasn’t worth the time, that he would disappear from her life the way he did from his. Still to this day, she hated that Ben had been right.

 

“Everything okay?” The Commander asked, his expression of joy faded and replaced with concern while his gaze flickered over her features. Why was someone she just met so concerned about how she felt?

 

“No, yeah, it’s fine.” Rey shook her head, trying to shake the memories racing through her mind now out of her thoughts - the time her father taught her how to fly, how he accidentally brought her out on a smuggling job because she stowed away on the Falcon, the time he taught her how to play Dejarik with Chewbacca. “I should go.”

 

“Okay,” He nodded, “I’ll see you around.”

 

Rey gave a brief nod before returning to her mission of finding Uncle Luke, she wanted to think about anything other than Han Solo right now.

 

“Oh, Rey, by the way,” Dameron called out, catching her attention, “you can call me Poe.”

 

“Poe,” she repeated back, trying to commit it to memory, “I’ll see you later, Poe.”

  
He smiled back at her, and for just a moment despite knowing what she knew of him from her vision, she felt just a bit happier too.


End file.
